Overton et al: Interactions between Morone saxatilis and their prey during winter off the North Carolin coast 
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Figure 3 
Percent biomass and number of Atlantic menhaden ( Brevoortia tyrannus ) and bay 
anchovy (Anchoa mitchilli ) in the diet of striped bass ( Morone saxatilis ) collected in 
trawl and recreational catch samples during winter off the coasts of Virginia and 
North Carolina during 1994-2007. 
off the coasts of Virginia and North Carolina in winter. 
We present the first published description of the diet 
of large striped bass, generally >400 mm TL, during 
their ocean residency in winter. The predominance 
of fish in the diet of striped bass in this study agrees 
with the findings of other published studies (Manooch, 
1973; Overton, 2003; Walter et al., 2003; Walter and 
Austin, 2003). Several species of clupeoid fishes (e.g., 
Atlantic menhaden, Atlantic herring, and bay anchovy) 
dominated diet biomass of striped bass. This dependency 
on clupeoids, particularly Atlantic menhaden, has been 
well-documented throughout the range of striped bass 
(Walter et ah, 2003). The only other study to address 
the diet of striped bass >500 mm TL was conducted in 
Chesapeake Bay by Walter and Austin (2003). They 
showed that Atlantic menhaden contributed 58% of the 
diet biomass. In the present study, Atlantic menhaden 
represented a higher biomass (67.9%) of the striped bass 
diet, indicating a greater dependency on Atlantic men- 
haden during the period of ocean residence in winter. 
Anadromous species, particularly alosines, contribute 
substantially to the diet of striped bass (Nelson et al., 
2003; Walter et al., 2003; Savoy and Crecco, 2004). 
In our study, there were less than five occurrences of 
alosines, which would indicate that anadromous alo- 
sines contribute little to the production of striped bass 
during their ocean residency in winter. Striped bass 
share similar migration patterns of other anadromous 
species (Walter et al., 2003) and we commonly observed 
alosines in the same trawls in which striped bass were 
collected. 
Invertebrates were seemingly unimportant to large 
striped bass winter production because they contributed 
little to the diet. However, throughout their range, large 
striped bass routinely feed on a wide variety inverte- 
brate prey. In New England waters during summer 
and fall, striped bass consumed large amounts of in- 
vertebrate prey such as sand shrimp ( Crangon septem- 
spitiosa), rock crabs ( Cancer irroratus), and American 
lobster (Homarus americanus ) (Nelson et al., 2003). 
Large striped bass in Chesapeake Bay routinely fed on 
invertebrate prey, primarily blue crab (Callinectes sapi- 
dus), in summer (Walter and Austin, 2003). Presum- 
ably, these differences among studies due to differences 
in prey availability. 
The percentage of stomachs with food varied among 
years but ranged from 23% in 2005 to 100% in 1995. 
In Chesapeake Bay, the percentage of large striped 
bass with food in their stomach during fall and early 
winter (November and December) was greater than 75% 
